Total or Repair? Dodge Challenger
Accident in FL, hit a concrete culvert at about 50mph, went slightly airborne & then went into a ditch which the Front passenger wheel sheared off on impact. Was towed to a USAA preferred repair shop. After 9 days its just been sitting in the lot as they don't have an available lift yet to put it on. The visual estimate just on arrival from tow is $7500 thus far which the shop said it's only at about 25% loss. We want it to be a total loss, the manager said because the miles aren't that high, & it's a newer car, it would take a lot for USAA to total it out. I called my USAA adjuster to ask if I could request an appraisal because the car was previously in an accident last year & I don't think the body shop took that into consideration with the valuation as they only do the valuation off of the VIN. She said no that the shop makes that call to bring an appraiser in if once they get started tearing down & ordering parts that it's getting close to 80% they'll stop the repair process. We have no clue what's underneath, but the manager seemed pretty sure of himself that when they get it on the lift it'll be repairable.
It's a 2023 Dodge Challenger RT manual transmission with 49K miles. The body shops valuation is at like $29,000 which seems high considering the previous major accident. When I factor in the previous accident on Carfax, the value is coming in moreso around $26,600
What do you think?